‘Politicians Need to Center Workers and Kitchen Table Issues’: The Working People Weekly List
Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
New AFL-CIO Tech Institute Report Finds Electronic Shelf Labels Cost Workers Billions in Lost Wages: “Yesterday, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represent 1.2 million essential workers across North America, including 800,000 workers in the grocery industry, released a statement in response to a new report from the AFL-CIO Tech Institute that finds the widespread adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) would cost workers in New Jersey over $300 million in lost wages and hours and mean 7,500 fewer jobs for the Garden State.”
Hofstra Faculty Approve New Five-Year Union Contract with Raises: “Hofstra University faculty approved a new, five-year union contract Wednesday night, ratifying an agreement that sets the terms of their employment for the coming years. The contract, which the union said was ‘overwhelmingly’ approved, provides annual raises for both full-time and part-time faculty, starting with a 3.5% increase on Sept. 1, 2026, followed by 3% increases in 2027, 2028 and 2029, and a 3.25% increase in 2030. ‘Months of hard work, extensive negotiations, and active participation by our membership and community achieved this outcome,’ the Hofstra AAUP said in a statement.”
Despite Trump’s Pressure, Companies that Maintained Their DEI Programs Did Just Fine: “Whether you love DEI, despise it or view it with uninterest, there’s no question that President Trump’s relentless assault on the principle threw a ticking bomb into the upper echelons of corporate and institutional managements. Businesses, universities, law firms and nonprofits felt themselves bound to consider how bucking Trump’s anti-DEI policies might translate into lost revenues, contracts and government grants. Many decided that capitulation was the safe choice. Now there’s evidence that many need not have worried. According to researchers at UC Berkeley and Stanford, firms that maintained their diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the face of the Trump attacks paid no financial price.”
Blizzard Video Game Workers Ratify Union Contracts: “Workers at ‘World of Warcraft’ video game developer Blizzard Entertainment have ratified union contracts after two years of bargaining. The ratification vote means all union-represented Blizzard employees—nearly 1,900 people across all units in the company’s games teams and shared services—will have the same contract language in their respective departments, the union said Wednesday.”
Michigan Labor Advocates Keeping Their Eyes on Workforce Reforms: “Thousands of people gathered in Detroit on Labor Day to rally for workers’ rights, a fight labor leaders say is more than a century old. Michigan labor leaders honored that history in Detroit while also looking ahead to a new fight brought on by the digital age. The Michigan AFL-CIO, a coalition of unions, is hoping state and federal lawmakers will act on a number of workforce reforms, including protections against artificial intelligence—a technology that has already affected some Michigan jobs.”
‘Who Is Going to Fight for You?’: AFL-CIO Pres. on Why People Trust Unions OVER Political Parties: “Liz Shuler, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) joins The Weekend to discuss President Trump’s low economic approval ratings, and why politicians need to center workers and kitchen table issues to earn voter trust and support.”
Celebrating the America Labor Movement on Labor Day: “Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., talks about the holiday and the state of workers today.”
Labor Is at the Heart of the Black Freedom Struggle: A Conversation with Charles McKinney: “Dr. Charles McKinney is a professor of History and African Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. McKinney has written and lectured widely on social movements in the South, with a focus on the Civil Rights Movement and its role in ongoing struggles in Black communities for social and economic justice. Among his many volunteer and community activities, he was a board member of the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, in the late 1990s.”